Freeland girls soccer tourney run ends in Boyne City shootout

Freeland senior Autumn Kloha gets emotional, laying on the field by herself with her hands over her face after a close game against Boyne City for the Division 3 regional final at Brookwood Athletic Complex on Thursday, June 6, 2019, Clare, MI. (Rachel Ellis | MLive)

The streak came to a crashing halt Thursday, ending in a multitude of overtime penalty kicks.

The final kick and goal, however, belonged to Boyne City, sending Freeland’s girls soccer season to a sudden end.

After two overtimes and two rounds of a shootout, Boyne City ended Freeland’s five-year run of Final Four appearances, beating the Falcons, 4-3, in a Division 3 regional final at Clare’s Brookwood Complex.

Freeland girls watch their teammates take turns taking a shot at the goal during a shootout for the Division 3 regional final against Boyne City at Brookwood Athletic Complex on Thursday, June 6, 2019, Clare, MI. (Rachel Ellis | MLive)

“It was a tough way to go down, but it happens,” Freeland coach Ciaran Byrnes said. “We had a couple close chances in the second half … one off the post. We just seemed to lack the ability to find good chances. We started to rely on individuals to change the game.

“We have a great class of seniors who worked so hard for four years. I know they wanted more out of the season and expected more out of the season. It just did not end the way they wanted it to. There’s a lot of disappointment and heartache.

“I look at myself, and I’m saying I failed. The preparation we made, the things we were doing the last couple of days … maybe there’s something we should have done differently.”

Freeland started strong, with Autumn Kloha scoring in the first two minutes, followed by a goal by Maddie Boyes to go up 2-0.

“Everything we had drawn up … it looked like we thought it would,” Byrnes said. “Everything was going as we had planned it.”

But Boyne City came back to score.

“They had a girl whose throw-ins were at least 40 yards, and they had some good athletes in the right areas,” Byrnes said. “She would throw-in, launch it into the box. One of their girls had a goal out of the top drawer. It was a goal you could line that girl up a million times, and she’d never hit it again.”